04/22/2013

Prenuptial Plans before the Honeymoon

Most commonly, a prenup is drawn up to
protect the spouse with greater separate assets from losing an unfair
proportion of that wealth if the marriage should end.

Spring brings about more than
just April showers and May flowers.
Don’t forget about those Spring weddings! With many of these weddings
financial discussions will arise that require deep thought and planning, well
before the wedding bells ring.

Marriage is not just “tying the
knot,” so to speak. No, marriage by its legal nature includes tying together
all of your financial resources and interests. Unfortunately, these days
marriage also has a dark side too: divorce.

For those couples with important
financial resources and interests in the marital mix, they may elect to use a
prenuptial agreement as sort of an “insurance” policy in the event the marriage
doesn’t work out as planned.

Prenuptial agreements are
nowhere as exotic as they are portrayed in the popular imagination. They can
be, nevertheless, useful and important documents when produced through a spirit
of full disclosure, careful deliberation, and independent legal representation.
Otherwise, as pointed out in numerous articles these days, no prenuptial
agreement is ironclad unless it is done correctly and, essentially, treated
like the contractual understanding that it is.

Recently, Forbes provides some guidance to evaluate the effectiveness of your
prenuptial agreement in an article titled “Five Reasons Your Prenup Might Be Invalid.” In addition, The Wall Street Journal offers some specific guidance to get your
prenuptial agreement ship-shape in an article titled “Shoring Up Your Prenup.”

Used correctly, a prenuptial
agreement, or even a post-nuptial agreement as the case may be, can help a
couple frame their financial resources and interests in the context of their
life together come what may.

That can provide great peace of
mind, especially when there are blended families and the children from those
families.

For more information on
Wisconsin pre and post nuptial agreements,
visit my website, or contact my office for an
appointment.